Unleashed
by The Asylum of the Devitory
Summary: Shortly after Black Shadow's apparent demise, Captain Falcon and the rest of the Federation will have to deal with Blood Falcon- Cunning, dangerous, and now completely free.
1. A Red Streak in the Night

UNLEASHED

-

PROLOGUE: A Red Streak in the Night

-

The rusted old pipe kept a steady patter of leaking water dripping onto the floor, handily muffling Lily Flyer's light footsteps as she crept through the darkness. Despite her superior training, her heart kept racing- she had been on numerous reconnaissance assignments before, but infiltrating the remains of the last known Black Shadow Labs hideout would make even the toughest veteran's nerves begin to fray. Her tight leather suit easily helped conceal her presence in the shadows, and in what remained of the lighting in the labs barely managed to pick her out. Deeper and deeper she crept into the ruined facility, surveying the wreckage though her night vision goggles. The unexplained explosion here after the GX Grand Prix could be seen from space, yet so much of the labs remained intact- a puzzling result that Lily could not force out from the back of her mind.

Suddenly, right before her eyes, she saw what she had come so far deep into the labs for. A large computer kiosk, with a gigantic containment chamber linked to it with numerous cables. This is it, Lily thought to herself, her hand wandering away from the sidearm strapped on her hip, This has got to be it. The moment she placed her hands on the keyboard, the screen in front of her flashed on, as if it had been used recently. Paying it no mind, Lily quickly set to work, typing in what she was told at the briefing at Federation Headquarters. The screen momentarily went blank, and then quickly revealing the words:

"LOCK DISENGAGED"

A quiet hiss seeped from the containment chamber at Lily's left, and to her amazement, the heavy metal shields slid open. Inside was nothing but a small memory stick, held aloft in midair by a glowing suspension beam. Got it! Lily thought to herself, hastily snatching the stick and slipping it into her pocket, Now to get the hell out of here.

As Lily turned around to make a quick retreat, she gasped when he saw an imposing figure standing at the doorway, blocking her escape. "Thanks a million, lady," he said, drawing a pistol. "Now how about handing it over?"

The sudden blast from Lily's swivelling pistol holster caught the strange figure by surprise, having to dive to his right to avoid the shot. Taking his eyes off of Lily for just that one split-second cost him, the intruder now nowhere in sight. A sudden blow to the back of his knee crumpled him, and Lily's rushing shadow bolting past him into the hallway only irritated him. Running as fast as her legs could carry her, Lily scrambled out of the depths of the BSL, hopped into the open cockpit of the Bunny Flash, and sped out of the hangar and onto the desolate road ahead. Taking as deep a sigh of relief as her body would let her, Lily pulled off her mask and goggles, thankful to be able to breathe somewhat normally again.

All of a sudden, the sound of roaring G-Diffuser engines came screaming up from behind. Looking back, Lily's jaw dropped when she saw the Blood Hawk giving chase behind her, gaining ground at an alarming pace. Strategically shifting gears as she turned, Lily guided the Bunny Flash in a smooth, slippery turn around the long bend in the road, losing a minimal amount of speed as she continued to barrel down the road. The Blood Hawk, however, took the turn even more smoothly, no doubt being piloted by a much more seasoned driver. Within seconds, the Blood Hawk had pulled up right beside the Bunny Flash, and with one violent swerve, ploughed its side into the Bunny Flash's. The Bunny Flash was sent into the guard railings, screeching as it spewed out a shower of sparks. Regaining control of her machine, Lily tried to return the favour by throwing her machine against the Blood Hawk, only to have the Blood Hawk squeeze the brakes, letting her miss by mere inches. Pulling up alongside Lily again, the Blood Hawk swerved away a little bit before ramming itself into the Bunny Flash's side again, this time sending it bouncing against the railings, launching up into the air, and coming down with a bone-rattling crash. Pinned on her side, Lily shook the cobwebs from her head just in time to see the Blood Hawk backing away before screaming forward again. Lily squeezed her eyes shut and ducked her head into her chest, doing the best she could to brace for the inevitable impact. The Blood Hawk's body smashed into the underside of the Bunny Flash, sending it rampaging down the road like an avalanche before finally coming to a stop a few kilometres away.

When Lily's vision returned, she was too stunned to fully realize the staggering amount of pain she was in, despite hanging upside-down and inches away from the road poking through the Bunny Flash's shattered windshield. The boots of a tall figure suddenly appeared, and a gloved hand reached into her cockpit, digging the memory stick out of her pocket. "Like I said," came a voice as Lily's consciousness began to rapidly fade, "thanks a million."


	2. A Method of Madness

Chapter 1: A Method of Madness

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Robert Stewart slipped off the bloody neoprene gloves, dropping them into the hazmat bin mounted on the wall before diligently scrubbing his hands clean in the sink. Quietly closing the door behind him, he was met with Jody Summer's disconcerted face. "How is she now, doctor Stewart?" Jody asked, her hands still slightly trembling in her folded arms.

Stewart looked back though the small window in the door to Lily's hospital room. Buried underneath tubing, tape, and an oxygen mask was what was left of Lily Flyer lying in the bed. "A lot better than what she was when she was brought in," said Stewart at length. "Her injuries were serious, but at least now she's stable."

Jody quietly sighed uneasily under her breath. "Will she recover at all?" Jody asked.

Stewart's face remained hard as stone. "Hard to say at this point. While I should expect her to make a full recovery, that day is far off. Months, possibly years."

Jody's face slipped into her right hand. I should have never sent her, she thought to herself, It should have been me.

"The most we can do for her now is pray," said Stewart, taking off his surgeon's coat and folding it up over his arm. "I'll keep you and the Federation posted on her progress."

Starting to get lost in her thoughts, Jody walked into the hospital waiting room in a daze, right past John Tanaka. "Well?" John asked, standing up from his seat and stretching out his back.

Jody snapped out of it. "I- she," Jody stammered briefly, "Lily's in bad shape. Collapsed lung, broken ribs, you name it."

John shook his head and muttered. "And?"

"She'll recover, but when, who knows," said Jody as she sat down, taking a moment to try and relax.

John sat down beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, Jody," he said in an effort to console her. "Three months with no activity from that maniac? Not even a sighting? Anyone would think he'd be out of the picture."

"I- I don't know, John," said Jody, "I shrugged the assignment off on Lily, I should have gone. Look what he did to her because of me."

John placed his other hand on Jody's shoulder, turning her around to look him squarely. "But you're still in one piece, Jody. Don't let what happened to Lily slow you down. Now we know he's still active- now we can stop him. For Lily."

As John released his old on her, Jody brushed her eye with her finger. "Thanks, John," she said, slowly rising and heading for the exit.

"Where are you going?" John asked, standing as well.

"To see a friend."

"Oh, right," said John with a subtle hint of contempt, "your 'friend.'"

Jody rolled her eyes. "There's nothing going on between him and I," she said, pushing open the door.

-

The monitor rolled through the footage of the desolate road, but so far nothing had come racing across. Captain Falcon rested his chin on his hand, slouching in his chair as he stared at all the various screens surrounding him in his hangar, wondering if he had misjudged the time of the incident. "Long night for you too, huh?" came a voice from behind him.

Falcon straightened himself up again. "I thought I told you, Jody," he said, "I never sleep."

Jody walked up beside him, leaning against the wall. "Yeah, I'd believe it. You're sure you're okay with giving me access to your hideout like this?"

"I wouldn't if I didn't trust you," said Falcon, still fixing his gaze on the monitors. "Well? What's the word on Flyer?"

"In pretty rough shape," said Jody. "She's stable, but that's pretty much where to good news ends." Taking a moment to look at all the screens on Falcon's desk, Jody said, "Got a visual yet?"

Almost as if on cue, one of the monitors showed the Bunny Flash racing past the frame, followed by the Blood Hawk. Quickly hitting a key, Falcon paused the image, showing a blurry yet unmistakable image of the Blood Hawk and it's pilot. "I do now."

The purple helmet and red jumpsuit confirmed Jody's worst fear. "So... it is him."

Falcon nodded. "Blood Falcon."

Jody moaned. "Why now?" she asked. "Shadow's been gone three months, and only now Blood Falcon shows up?"

"Strange," Falcon muttered. "This goes against what I had initially thought of him."

"Oh?"

"We rarely saw Blood Falcon outside of the Grand Prix when Shadow was still around. I had thought that Shadow would keep him locked up- or otherwise incapacitated, when he didn't have a job for him. A clone of myself- capable of doing everything I can and more- I would have thought Shadow would keep him at arm's length."

"Blood Falcon was at the last GP though, wasn't he?" Jody asked.

Falcon nodded. "He was, but every spy cam I planted by the BSL's showed him returning back inside immediately afterwards. Including after the last GP. We know he's been conditioned to follow Shadow's orders, I always assumed that when he returned, he was conditioned to return to whatever it was that was holding him back." Then, shaking his head, Falcon muttered, "But it looks like I was wrong."

"So, if he was willing and able to leave on his own all this time," Jody said, "why now?"

"That," said Falcon, pausing briefly, "I don't know."

"He's your clone, isn't he?" Jody asked. "If anyone knows how he thinks, it'd be you, right?"

"How he thinks, yes. Why, no. We're not the same."

"Sorry," said Jody sheepishly. "Um, figured out anything we haven't yet?"

"None of this is making much sense right now," Falcon said. "I'll have to do some footwork of my own. What was Lily sent after, anyway?"

"Sorry," said Jody. "That's classified."

"Figures..."

"But," said Jody slyly, "If you were to-"

Falcon muttered silently. "You keep asking the same question, and I keep giving the same answer."

Jody smiled, defeated again. "Still don't wanna' join the Federation, huh?"

"I don't do crowds."

Jody sighed. "Well, I can only give you a hint without getting into... too much trouble," she said. "Since we first found the new BSL, we've been trying to crack its encrypted network, but we never had any luck. That is, until last night. There was a brief moment of shortage- the BSL data became completely unprotected, and we got what we could from it."

"A leak?" Falcon asked.

Jody nodded. "There was something inside the BSL that Shadow was keeping all to himself. Something highly guarded."

"Which was...?"

"That's all I can say," said Jody. "Sure you don't want to-"

"No."

Jody sighed, heading for the exit. "Take care of yourself, Falcon."

"You too, Jody."


End file.
